This is what happens when you take the afternoon off

Posted by Tania Kindersley.

I have always been searingly envious of those clever bloggers who do glorious collages of photographs, often on a theme or a colour or even a mood. I am always looking for delightful visual blogs, and the collage is one of the things that often distinguishes the really good ones. I had NO IDEA how to achieve such a thing myself. I can't even work out how to get Windows Live Writer to put the little red frames around my pictures that I had when I wrote my posts directly onto Blogger. (Live Writer is so superior in every way, so much more fluid and pleasurable to use, especially when it comes to uploading pictures, which it does in a second instead of in minutes, that I think the red frames a sacrifice worth making. I can't ever go back to Blogger's horrid little cramped white box.)

Anyway, enough with the excessively dull technical talk. The point is, I decided today that instead of telling myself of my internet limitations, I would see if I might have a hidden capability. I googled about until I discovered that a nice thing called Picasa will do collages for even idiots like me. After several false starts (the selection process was confusing, and I am rotten at reading instructions) I achieved a result. I feel ridiculously pleased with myself.

So here, dear readers, is a little symphony in green, my favourite colour. Four of the pictures are by me, some are just bog standard sample pictures from the computer, some are lowly clipart, some are downloaded from the net. I do apologise for lack of attribution; I have not quite worked out how to gather all that information and form twenty pictures into a box at the same time. I shall persevere, as I generally think it bad manners to put up other people's photographs without giving them a credit. Apologies for this momentary lapse.

Here is my first attempt:

I think I selected too many pictures, as they look rather small and cramped.

Here is my second try:

And a third attempt, with fewer pictures, so they may be more clearly seen:

Or this - same picture selection, different layout:

(The mint and the trees, top and bottom left, are two of my own photographs. I have very little talent for photography, but I am quite pleased with both of those shots.)

Now this last one is very, very naughty indeed. It is entirely self-indulgent, and everything that the ranters say is bad about the blogosphere. It combines two of the things that delight me most in all the world: the colour green, and my two dogs. You will have to forgive me:

Now I really am going to stop.